Was looking through some of my older files and found this. Gave me a bit of a sad nostalgia and also the idea to post it up here for all you DoN people to enjoy, so without further interruptions here it is for your reading pleasure!

Ielenia, perhaps the newest name in our...collection. She was a magnificent creature. Her scales shined brighter than that of a well cut diamond, her voice more eloquent than even that of the Elves. Never before had I met a prismatic dragon, for they are rare indeed, never before has my life been so touched.

I talk as though I were a man in love, but I was not. She indeed captivated me just as a beautiful woman would, but even so she did not compare to my Jasmine. For you see, Jasmine was indeed my soul mate. Ielenia however turned out to be perhaps my dearest traveling companion, even closer to me than Strife. Back then at least...Strife was by no means a bad companion, quite the contrary in fact. He however, is a natural leader much like myself, which leads to conflict on how to handle situations that arise. Over the years though, he has changed. If nothing else we have learned to adapt to each others preferred styles of handling problems.

I cannot recall the exact day we were left without her though, but I do remember the events of it. Strife, Ielenia, and I were making our way out of the Plane of Elkire, home of the deceased spirits of the woods, when we encountered a group of strange priests from a different part of the multiverse. From what we could see of them, they were well out of the way to be 'passing through' and seemed to be using some dark magic to be corrupting the very spirits themselves. Knowing trouble would most likely come from our passing, we all readied ourselves for a possible conflict. Cautiously we moved forward, trying to keep our distance but continuing forward. Somewhere we must have gotten too close for all six looked straight at us and showed us rather malicious smiles. Their organized movement suggested they were expecting trouble, as they spread out to separate us I knew this would turn out to be a fight we would not avoid. They made the first move and the clash started. Strife had two of them, I was going toe to toe with another, and Ielenia was assisting us with her offensive magic on the rest. Strife had just finished off one of his, and I mine, when Ielenia felt the presence of many more beings approaching. Without time to warn us properly, she spread her huge wings and took to the air. To us, this was a common tactic, organized to give us time to activate the special runes she had given us to protect ourselves from her devastating breath weapon. As goes the tactic, we did just that and prepared to continue fighting. When our remaining adversaries pulled out disturbingly similar wards and activated them we both realized this was no accidental meeting, these men had found information about our fighting styles and planned this. Strife and I both thought the same thing that moment, "AMBUSH!" and with that Strife traced the arcane sigils to enact his fireshield.

I took the moment to yell to Ielenia that it was an ambush, but as I finished I became witness to her crashing into the ground behind us. Following her downward path was a great red dragon, and if this new foe was not disheartening enough, fifteen other priests appeared out of the bushes to surround us with their remaining comrades. We both charged headlong into the fray once more, Strife taking down several with massive fireballs. I was right behind wielding Hell’s Pain in two-handed fashion cleaving those that got too close. Ielenia fiercely battled the red dragon, raking with her claws, breathing, even using the last of her remaining offensive spells. The battle seemed to go on for hours, Strife and I were exhausted, having spent nearly all of our magical energies on the ten downed priests to leave nine more to deal with. Ielenia seeing our predicament charged straight into the red dragon and slammed into him with such strength and force that I felt as though the earth itself would shake apart. With a horrendous THUD the red dragon slammed into the ground. Ielenia, still dazed from the attack, managed to work her way to our side. It wasn’t until then I realized just how badly she was hurt. Her neck and chest were gashed open widely, her breathing was heavily labored...I was surprised to see her standing at all. It was truly a sight I had never wished to see upon a comrade. Then, as if she wasn’t wounded at all, she stood tall and proud, the telltale stance of defiance to her condition. She looked at me ask asked for one last favor, to use the final technique of my arts. I had told her of it while trading stories of our past and learning her history while telling my own. Strife chuckled at the notion of this attack, he would never use it after all, and simply shrugged his shoulders.

I, on the other hand, stood there feeling as though I were heartbroken. She was my most cherished friend, I would give anything to protect her, yet I could not seem to come to terms with her doing the same for me. For several moments I looked at her in silence, then with a weak and saddened voice I began to channel what was left of my power into her and spoke those fateful words... "I give unto you the absolute, The end of all ends. Divine Arts Final Technique: Altruistic shield!" Ielenia smiled at me, the only way a dragon can smile, finishing the art by saying, "I accept this gift with all that I am and bring it to bear on those who stand against me!" With acceptance of technique, the mark of her diety appeared upon her body and with one last breath she said goodbye to us. A pillar of light enveloped the area, the red dragon and all the priests then simply ceased to exist. Strife’s wounds then faded away and we both felt our own energies restored.

I fell to my knees and gently whispered goodbye to my lost friend. Then, where our beloved companion had once stood, a giant ball of light hovered in the air. From it came these words, "Do not mourn her passing, for it was her wish to protect the two of you. Earning such self sacrifice is no easy task but she was more than willing to make such for you. Take this, for it is imbued with part of her spirit and will forever protect you." With that the ball of light began to fade away, a shield taking its place. I stood up and grabbed the shield, holding it as though it were made of fragile glass. "Ielenia, the Dreamer. It is what she was after all." I said to Strife, who had already begun walking once more to our destination. Without stopping, Strife spoke over his shoulder, "That she was."